[ExI] There Is No ‘Hard Problem Of Consciousness’

[BillK]

There Is No ‘Hard Problem Of Consciousness’
Consciousness is not separate from the physical world — our “soul” is of
the same nature as our body and any other phenomenon of the world.
By Carlo Rovelli       May 7, 2026

<https://www.noemamag.com/there-is-no-hard-problem-of-consciousness/>
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This longish essay seems relevant to our discussions of consciousness and
to the question "Why does consciousness exist?"

I asked Gemini to summarise the essay into five main points.
BillK

Gemini AI 3.1 Thinking -

In the article "*There Is No Hard Problem of Consciousness*," physicist
Carlo Rovelli argues that consciousness is not a supernatural mystery but a
complex natural phenomenon of the same physical nature as the body and the
rest of the universe.

   -

   *Rejection of Dualism:* Rovelli contends that the "hard problem" of
   consciousness—the supposed unbridgeable gap between brain activity and
   subjective experience—is a modern reincarnation of medieval dualism that
   unnecessarily separates the "soul" from matter.
   -

   *A Matter of Perspective:* He explains that the difference between a
   first-person experience (feeling "red") and a third-person scientific
   account is merely a difference in perspective, not evidence of two distinct
   kinds of reality.
   -

   *The Flaw in "Philosophical Zombies":* The author dismisses David
   Chalmers' "philosophical zombie" thought experiment as a rhetorical trick,
   arguing that it assumes a metaphysical gap from the start rather than
   proving one exists.
   -

   *Science from the Inside:* Rovelli suggests that scientific knowledge is
   itself a perspectival tool used by beings *within* the world, meaning
   subjectivity is a natural feature of being an embodied part of reality.
   -

   *The Natural Soul:* Ultimately, the article concludes that our "soul"
   and spiritual life are real and precious, but they are high-level
   descriptions of physical processes that fully belong to the natural world.

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